Video viewers want better search

News, 19 September 2016

SAN FRANCISCO: More than a third (37%) of pay-TV and OTT subscribers worldwide report giving up on shows they previously enjoyed because it became too difficult or costly to access them, a global survey has revealed.

Also of note for content providers, the TiVo survey found 40% of viewers turn off their TV or device and disengage completely when they can't find something to watch.

"Overwhelmingly, consumers feel there is much room for improvement when it comes to search and discovery. Millennials, in particular, showing the strongest desire for better discovery solutions," the report said.

"Since they are the generation consuming the most content across the most platforms, this implies that millennials clearly translate better discovery into a value proposition which attracts them to the video services they use."

TiVo drew its conclusions after conducting an online poll of 5,500 pay-TV and OTT subscribers across seven markets, including 2,500 in the US and 500 interviews each in the UK, France, Germany, China, Japan and India.

Interestingly, the results suggested that US consumers tend to have different viewing habits and attitudes than the global average in terms of the amount of time spent watching shows, and about cord-shaving and cord-cutting.

For example, 11% of global respondents say they are extremely likely to downgrade their service instead of cancelling, while 8% say they are extremely likely to cancel their pay-TV service in the next six months.

But a full 21% of US viewers say they are extremely likely to downgrade their pay-TV service and 13% say they are strongly considering cutting the cord.

And in terms of time spent watching streamed video content, the survey found American viewers spend 5.5 hours per day, considerably more than the global average of four hours.

Elsewhere, the survey revealed that Netflix has the edge over Amazon Prime Video among global consumers who pay for streaming services.

According to TiVo, 81% of US respondents use Netflix, with another 69% in the UK, 64% in France and 38% in Germany. Half (50%) of the US sample also use Amazon Prime Video, as do 49% in the UK, 61% in Germany and 28% in Japan.

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